


Dreams

by adam_42_man



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adam_42_man/pseuds/adam_42_man
Summary: Its been a while so heres a fic discussing nothing justy to  get back into it
Relationships: Wilhuff Tarkin/Darth Vader
Kudos: 4





	Dreams

"I still remember, Tarkin" a somber voice cut through the silent Naboo night. A rich baritone rumble, filled with a depth of emotion some would not think possible of the Sith Lord. What concerned the Moff was the degree of sentimentality that dripped from every syllable. 

"What would that be? Lord Vader" the officer replied, curt, polite, aware of Vader's distaste for time wasters and pretentious speakers. Tarkin moved to the dark lords' side with an almost painful grace instilled through years of rigid military and familial training.

Wilhuff glanced at his impossibly tall compatriot. Despite the mask he could tell alot about his peer from his physicality, he seemed perturbed, an almost imperceptible hunch of the shoulders were the only hint of the figures' inner turmoil.

"The wars Tarkin, I know you served" a swish of the cloak and the man once known as Skywalker stared into the depths of Tarkin's eyes.

The force clung to the air, the pressure increased and crowded the two into a twilight seclusion of their own. Eddies in the force rippled around the pair, it drudged up painful long forgotten memories. 

_ Crack! Blaster fire eviscerated the open space above Tarkin's unit, it obliterated the silence and replaced it with the wails of a dying chorus. _

_ "Kark it! We're pinned down captain!" CT 1435 crackled over the communicator. "Hold position, soldier!" Wilhuff responded "Reinforcements are scheduled inbound." _

_ The trooper, he hadn't learned their names, had obviously not listened to orders and broke rank. A viscous hail of energy bolts tore the soldier to pieces as they broached the gunline. A pang of emotion flickered through Tarkin, not for the loss of life but for the waste of military resources.  _

_ Droids advanced from all directions. Fear blossomed and was weeded immediately in the officers heart. Finger at the ready, blaster aimed, he readied himself for a final stand. These blasted droids would not take him down like regular old Bantha fodder.  _

_ Whump! Several ships seemingly materialised above the final stand. A moment and then mercifully the chatter of clone troopers commenced. They were saved. _

_ At that moment, the Droideka appeared. _

"Tarkin! Tarkin!" A sharp tone snapped the Moff from the midst of his trauma. "I know you served too, I was not meant to bring you back into such… uncomfortable memories." A level of concern uncharacteristic for the Sith roused Tarkin from his malaise. 

Vader steered the shellshook man to a nearby bench, then sat him down. Unsure of the procedure for dealing with this type of emotion the Sith lord reverted to his training and reached out with the force. With the force he could feel the jagged edges of Tarkin's conscious mind, much more ragged and uneven than the precise blade he was used to feeling from the officer. “There” He thought as he found the source of emotion it was like loose wiring, live and ready to shock all who would come into contact with it, with that he seized the wiring and was transported into Tarkin’s darkest memories.   
  
_ The lack of pain was the first clue as to how injured Tarkin was, he managed with great effort to stare down in horror at the mess that his chest had become. “Huh, no blood.” he commented, more from shock than any other training that might have informed him blaster wounds cause no bleeding. _   
  


_ Anakin had heard rumours of this day, heard the tall tales told by others, he had even heard a half remembered snippet from the Emperor himself. This was the first time he had seen the gruesome events from Tarkins perspective; he could feel the malicious coolness of hatred flood through every vessel of the officer's body, he could smell his own flesh charring, and finally he could feel the sense of dread overriding every one of the body's functions, the primal urge to survive no matter the cost.  _

_ Finally Anakin saw himself, bisected Droideka still smoking in the foreground of Tarkin's memories. “Rex, Take the captain to the bacta tent! Squad four, cover them!” Tarkin admired the efficiency of the young Jedi, the ruthlessness of his attacks, and his ability to dominate a battlefield before the imperial sucambe to a deadly combination of shock and blood loss. _ _  
_   
The memories faded away as Wilhuff clutched at the scar tissue that still marred his chest upon remembering his current company he gasped “My Lord, I apologize for my state, it is not befitting of my stature or yours..” each word was punctuated with a lungful of air that could only be simulated by a drowning man taking that first merciful breath after mercifully surfacing.   
  
“Worry not my Friend. Fear makes infants of us all”   
  
Relief eased its way through the officers nervous system as the adrenaline from the panic attack receded, his muscles painfully unknotted as his flight or fight system regained nominal function releasing the tension and regaining flexibility. One by one his fingers unfurled from his shirt ,the material now thoroughly wrinkled, he flexed the fingers of the hand and worked out the stiffness.    
  
“Thank you, friend.” The word felt foreign in his mouth. Was that a word he could truly use to describe the black clad destroyer? He decided to accept it for now choosing to evaluate the feelings at a later date. “Might i help you, the way you helped me?”   
  
“Not today, I feel you should be more emotionally stable for this conversation, for now all I require is that you share in this exquisite silence with me.”


End file.
